City to Handle Beach Crimes Again

Hoping to deal more effectively with serious crimes at Huntington and Bolsa Chica state beaches, the City Council this week agreed to return investigative duties to the Police Department.

A 1975 city ordinance transferred the state beaches’ law enforcement responsibilities from the city to the state Department of Parks and Recreation. Routine patrols have been handled by state park rangers, with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department providing some emergency assistance. But the city, county and state agencies have been at odds over who should conduct the follow-up investigations into the dozen or so serious crimes that occur on the beaches each year.

The Parks and Recreation Department has no investigative arm, and the Sheriff’s Department says it is not responsible for cases within Huntington Beach, since the city has no contract with the county for such services. Only in emergencies has the Sheriff’s Department lent support to the park rangers, said David Pryor, lifeguard supervisor for the Orange Coast District of the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

By ordinance, the city Police Department has not been allowed to conduct law-enforcement services on state beaches.

Consequently, investigations into most burglaries, assaults and other crimes on the beaches “have fallen through the cracks,” Police Chief Ron Lowenberg said Tuesday.

“It might be logically assumed that persons who commit serious crimes on the state beaches . . . may conclude that such conduct is being . . . overlooked,” Lowenberg wrote in a report to the council this week.

State beaches make up all of the city’s beach land, with the exception of a mile-long stretch between the pier and Beach Boulevard that belongs to the city. Bolsa Chica State Beach extends northwest of the pier to Warner Avenue, and Huntington State Beach runs from Beach Boulevard to the Santa Ana River mouth.

Police suspect that state beach crime may be spilling over into neighboring areas of the city, Lowenberg said Tuesday.

Auto burglary and vandalism make up most of the estimated 12 to 20 “serious” crimes that occur each year on the state beaches, he said. However, Lowenberg said he has been concerned that a rape or murder occurring on either beach would not be promptly investigated.

After a shooting Aug. 14 at Huntington State Beach, state Parks and Recreation Department official Jack B. Roggenbuck wrote a letter to Lowenberg asking that his department handle investigations on the state beaches.

In that incident, a motorist who had been stopped in the beach parking lot by a park ranger fired several shots at the ranger. The ranger returned the fire, killing the assailant.

Because of the urgency of that incident, the Sheriff’s Department conducted the follow-up report, said Pryor, an assistant to Roggenbuck.

Lowenberg said that incident by itself was not the impetus for his recommendation but that it did underscore the need for a clear designation of a law-enforcement agency to be responsible for such investigations, he said.

The council’s action this week authorizes City Atty. Gail Hutton to draft an ordinance returning investigative duties to the Police Department, although patrol duties will remain with state park rangers.

The change will probably take effect in late January, Lowenberg said.